The Quidditch World Cup surprise
by KiraXLight
Summary: It is the moment everyone had been waiting for, The Quidditch World cup. In the exited witches and wizards, we find a little boy... who's in for a surprise Disclaimer: Quidditch belongs to its creator JK Rowling, which is not me


It had been a while since Michael Conway had gone camping. The last time he had gone, he had been two, much too young to remember what it felt like to be out in the open. At age ten, he was surprised to find himself in the edge of a forest with his dad and mom. Technically no one could camp there, it was an area off limits, but his dad had a reason for camping there. They had planned to got to a place to rent some land to camp, but the place was full of pre-bookings, according to Michael's dad that was very rare, people usually just turned up, no one ever bothered to pre-book a piece of ground. So that was how they had ended up near the forest, Michaels dad had refused to turn back, he had come to camp and he was going to camp, even in a spot were it was against the law to camp in. Michael was not worried about being caught; he was more worried about why the place was out of bounds in the first place. At age ten Michael already considered himself too old to believe in fairies, dragons, and things like that, he thought witches and wizards were kid's stories. He was wrong, because nearby, closer than he thought was a giant stadium in which the Quidditch world cup was about to take place. Quidditch was a game played by witches and wizards on brooms, with six players and simple rules. Three chasers focused on getting a red ball called a Quaffle through hoops that were fifty feet high. Two beaters to compete with two other balls known as Bludgers whose sole purpose were to knock players off they brooms. A keeper guarded the hoops to stop the other team from scoring, and the seeker. Seekers were usually light and speedy, and their job was to catch the golden snitch, a small ball the size of a walnut and very fast and hard to see. The game of Quidditch only ended when the snitch was caught, and in most cases, the team of the seeker who caught the snitch would win. Obviously Michael had no idea about any of that, he just though that whoever said the patch of land was off limits was crazy. At dusk, Michael decided to take a stroll in the campsite that had filled up before his family had arrived. What he saw there made him take off his glasses and polish them quickly convinced the scene before him was a lie. Before his eyes were tents of all shapes and sizes, but they were not ordinary tents, some had chimneys, and one that looked like a miniature palace. There were people leaning close to a purple fire that sent sparks twenty feet into the air and people dressed in strange robes. There were even some wearing the weirdest and out of the way, clothes Michael had ever seen. Had he stumble upon a freak show? He remembered asking himself but that was no freak show, and the people before him were witches and wizards. Fascinated he wandered further into the campsites of the freaks. He began to see a whole bunch of weird salesmen who sold toys and pictures that moved, shamrocks that spoke. He saw scarves with lion that really roared, model broomstick that flew, it was the most incredible thing Michael had ever seen. It was like a dream, it was like magic… but it could not be real, because as far as he knew magic was not real. After all, he had seen he was starting to doubt if magic was as fake as he thought it was. Maybe magic is real… he thought… as he gazed at the numerous freaks, buying stuff with large golden coins, that he had never seen before. It was all too incredible, he was sure no one would believe what he saw. He had to show someone, he had to show his brother, and if he could see it too, it would mean he was not crazy and it was real. He ran back to the tent, his brother was outside looking for him

"Brother you got to see this," Michael shouted before he even reached the tent. His brother, Nicholas Conway smiled

"Nick, you won't believe what I saw," he screamed

"Another bee" guessed Nick

"No!!" said Michael, "and I was not scared by the bee"

"You only wet yourself," said Nick with a grin

"It was not that, I fell in water, that's all," said Michael

"Whatever you say little brother" said Nick

"Just come, you got to see this" said Michael

"Fine…" said Nick laughing "Lead the way"

Very well aware that his brother already thought he was crazy even though he had not showed him anything, he retraced his footsteps to the campsite. All the freaks were gone; the weird merchandise was gone, only the campsites remained. He watched his brother apprehensively as Nick examined the tents around him unimpressed

"The things you can do with money," he said, he obviously thought that the tents were just property of wealthy people and not wizards like Michael thought. Were had the freaks gone… thought Michael and he saw a bunch of them apparently heading to his campsite. He started to follow them, and gestured to his brother to follow him. After rolling his eyes, his brother followed. The freaks were not heading for his campsite after all, but muttered in disapproval at the sight of it and continued into the forest. Deep in the forest, Michael made out a huge stadium, made of gold and absolutely huge. As soon as they neared the building, his brother said something about having to leave and run off before Michael could even look at him. He did not want to leave yet; he wanted to find out what a stadium was doing in a forest. He saw people entering the massive building and handing tickets to a tall man with robes. Michael had no ticket but he was really curious about the weird stadium. There has to be a way to get in… he thought. The man had suddenly started a conversation with a man and Michael saw that as his chance to get in. It didn't work the man saw him and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck

"Where to you think you're going kid," he said

"Just taking a look" said Michael, choking under the pressure from the mans hand on his neck

"you can't 'take a look' if you don't have a ticket, so tell me do you have a ticket" asked the man

"Yes he does" said a boy not so far away, running up to the man and handing him a ticked

"How about you sassy boy, do you have a ticket" said the man with an evil grin. The boy took out another ticket, and the man let got of Michael at once and let them in

"That was close wasn't it" said the boy

"Thanks for the help" said Michael

"No problem, so you came to watch the match… huh? Next time you need to be more careful and not loose the ticket… unless you never had a ticked to begin with," he said. He was a small guy about Michael's age, he was wearing a cap, that covered his hair, and he had huge hazel eyes. There was also something strangely feminine about his face and aspect. Michael was even sure he smelled like roses, but he was not sure. The boy was staring at Michael strangely, as if he were expecting Michael to say something. Michael ran a hand through his short brown hair as he thought of what to say, the boy was making him nervous. Nearby he saw a man carrying a mirror, and for the merest moment, he saw his own reflection pale and exited. Then the boy's reflection, but in his reflection, he did not have the hat, he had long black hair, and he looked like… a girl…

"What's your name anyways" said the boy "Mine's Tiff- Timothy" For a moment Michael had been sure the boy had been about to say Tiffany but that seemed ridiculous, he was a boy after all. Timothy grinned

"My name is Michael," said Michael

"Nice to meet you Michael" said Timothy grinning

"So what kind of match will happen here?" asked Michael exited

"You don't know" Timothy looked horror-struck

"No…" said Michael feeling stupid

"It's a Quidditch match!" he said in excitement "don't tell me you haven't heard of Quidditch either?" almost begging him not to. Michael however had no clue what Quidditch was.

"No I don't," he said and Timothy nearly passed out in shock.

"You'll love Quidditch you'll see" he said and led him to a seat near two people; Michael assumed were Timothy's parents. They looked like him, in a strange way. As soon as they approached Timothy's mother took the cap away

"Didn't I tell you not to bring it?" she said. With the cap off Michael noticed he had long hair like the one he had seen in the mirror. He was a she?! Michael was ready to her name was Tiffany too. With a panicked look at Michael she tried to hide her hair, Michael stopped her

"Nice hair Tiff" he said gleefully. Tiffany blushed

"Don't laugh at me; I wanted you to think I was a guy so you could treat me like you would to any guy, normal"

"Oh I see Tiff, now can you tell me what Quidditch is?" asked Michael still chortling. Tiffany nodded and she started to explain, by the time she had finished Michaels head was swimming in the new confusing information, people flying on brooms, scoring, Bludgers!!! Just as he wondered if it could really be true, a voice boomed across the stadium

"Ladies and gentlemen… welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!" Screaming and clapping followed. The same voice announced the team mascot's arrival. The Bulgarians, whoever those were, showed the mascots first. Their mascots were women, but not ordinary women, they were perfect in every way possible. They had long white hair, and they seemed to glide instead of walk. Music started, and the mascots started to dance, Michaels mind became pleasantly blank. All he could think about was the beautiful women, so close yet so far, he wanted to be with them, he had to get to them somehow. It was only a short fall away, nothing he could not handle; he needed to get to them. The women danced faster and faster, and then he felt a hand on his shoulder. Tiffany's hand stopping him from jumping

"What was that?" he asked still slightly dazed

"A Veela" said Tiffany in a neutral tone that could barely contain rage

"A what?"

"A magical creature that ensnares men… like you" she said and could hardly make herself heard with all the booing and anger over the Veela ceasing to dance. The voice then announced the mascot of the Irish. A big green and gold swarm that flew across the stadium, the swarm divided in to two and flew to opposite sides of the stadium. A rainbow appeared connecting the two swarms. Then the rainbow faded and the swarm reunited and formed a giant shimmering shamrock that soared over the crowd. Golden rain started to fall, Michael noticed they were golden coins like the ones he had seen the witches and wizards use. People were madly recollecting the money dropped by the swarm, Michael among them. He had never seen money like that, and he wanted to keep some to show his brother, since he had not felt like staying to explore. The voice spoke again, and the Bulgarian team. They were really flying… and then the Irish team who were also flying. Actually seeing the players at it, he understood the game better than just hearing about it. He saw the chasers pass the Quaffle back and forth so fast the person doing the commentary barely had time to say their names. Then a guy named Troy scored, and the crowd, went wild. Quidditch was the most interesting thing in the world, and the match got violent as the time passed the Veela danced one in a while and the game continued. After getting over his initial shock about the Veela, the dancing did not affect him that much anymore. He was busy looking at the match and at the girl next to him, who was apparently supporting Bulgaria who was loosing at the moment. Since it was Michael's first Quidditch match, he was not really taking sides, he just watched. The game plays were turning dirtier and dirtier, even Michael who had never seen Quidditch before knew it. It was the best experience of his life, and soon the match was over. Bulgaria had lost. Long after the match had ended, he had found himself in a tent with Tiffany and her family. The excitement of the match had not worn off yet, there was a lot of noise coming from the Irish celebrating outside the tent. He did not remember how it happened but Tiffany fell asleep leaning on him and soon after he fell asleep too. He woke up to the sound of screaming, but the noises were different. It was as if people were in panic. Tiffany was still asleep, until the next bang when she woke up with a little scream. Tiffany's mother grabbed them both and she pushed them out of the tent.

"You both have to hide, okay, go into the woods until it quiets down here" she told them. They knew better than to disobey, they ran out of harms way into the woods and they looked back. Before them was a horrid sight. People in cloaks were levitating people, marching slowly in a tightly knit group. They wore horrible masks and more wizards were joining the group laughing. They were holding up the people with sticks Michael supposed were magic wands. Apart, from levitating people the people in cloaks were destroying tents. He saw many other wizards come to try to stop the cloaked or at least unmask one of them. Children were crying and everywhere he could hear panicked voices, in many languages that Michael could not understand. Tiffany looked terrified; Michael immediately placed an arm around her.

"It might be a bad time, but why did you dress up like a boy anyways?" he asked her

"Well…" she blushed unable to continue in embarrassment

"Look this IS a really bad time, I'll tell you later okay"

"Later… when" he asked

"Oh tomorrow" she said

"Tomorrow I won't see you," he said, and he probably would not, his family had to leave the next day. He looked at his watch, it was two' o'clock

"It's already tomorrow" he pointed out.

"Well I noticed guy's act different around girls than they do with other guys, around guys they seem more relaxed, so I though if I dressed up as a guy you'd be calmer around me" she said

"Oh…" he said, not uncomfortably, but calmly "I see"

"You think I'm weird don't you," she said in a defeated tone

"Not any weirder than before, so you are a witch right?"

"What did you just call me?!" she said furiously brushing his arm aside

"I did not mean it as an insult," said Michael

"Oh… yeah I am…" she said, "Aren't you? Wait I mean are you a wizard? I almost called you a witch!"

"As far as I know, I'm not," he said

"No wonder you were so clueless, I still can't believe you had never heard of Quidditch," she said

"I think I'm just a normal person"

"A muggle" she said

"What did you just call me?!" he had no idea what a muggle was.

"A non-magical person, but of course you can't be a muggle, the stadium was covered in anti-muggle spells. Whenever a muggle gets near, they remember something really important and have to dash away," said Tiffany. Michael remembered how his bother had done the exact same thing, could he be different, maybe a wizard…

"So I am like you" he said slowly, she did not have time to respond, they both noticed the screaming had stopped and both rushed to see what was left of the campsite, when something appeared in the sky. A giant skull made out of emerald stars, with a snake coming from its mouth like a tongue. In the distance, Michael spotted Tiffany's parents and he grabbed her hand and ran over to them. The skull even thought he had no idea what it was, could have only been bad news. Standing near a burning tent and staring in horror at the skull were Tiffany's parents.

"Kid you have to go back home, its dangerous here" said Tiffany's mother. Michael looked at Tiffany and did not move. After one incredible evening, it seemed so unreal he had to return to his parents who lived normal lives without riding broomsticks or casting spells. A normal life like his had been before. How could he go back to that?

"I'll see you at Hogwarts," said Tiffany kissing his cheek, and she left with her family. It was nearly morning by the time Michael arrived at his father's tent. It seemed strange to see a tent still standing and unharmed after he saw the people in the cloaks. He nearly fell asleep in front of the tent, but he had enough strength to get in his sleeping bag, where he fell asleep. When he woke up he was moving, he be in a cloud maybe… speeding across the countryside. No… it was no cloud, it was a car. It looked like it was midday too, he was returning home. The events from the night before seemed so unreal, had he really seen people fly, veelas, collected golden coins, seen the… skull in the sky… what if it had all been a dream… he reached into his pocket, the gold was gone…

"I'll see you at Hogwarts" Tiffany's last words to him. He did not know what Hogwarts, was, or if it was a place, where it was. He was confused, but he was almost convinced he had dreamed everything. There could be no other explanation, people could not fly, and he was sure Bludgers did not exist they were just a dream… just a dream. He was convinced he had dreamed it all, after all, if it had happened, he would have the gold he collected during the match… It had all been fake… a dream. Two days passed, by then Michael was starting to forget his dream, he was starting to forget about Bludgers and Quaffles, it had been just a dream after all. Two days later, he was shocked once more to see two owls in his bed. Each carried a letter, he removed the letter from both owls, and one flew away at once the other did not. It was a barn own, very nice and very large. He looked at the letters, one was a letter written in neat blue ink, the other was a yellowed heavy parchment, with his name on it, and a seal with a badger, a lion, a raven, and a snake all around a large H

"Hogwarts" he muttered as her opened the letter, he saw a train ticket and a letter, he was accepted to a school called "Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry" enclosed was also a list of materials and a brief explanation of what the school was about. The second letter was from Tiffany, the same words he had told him two day's ago

"I'll see you at Hogwarts" he took a quill from his desk and scribbled on the back of the note

"See you on September first, I look forward to seeing you again" and he cautiously approached the owl. He nervously tied the note to the owl's leg, and at once, the owl flew away. Michael watched the owl go happily, it had not been a dream and soon he would be with Tiffany again, in Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. It was like waking up once more, he went downstairs to inform his parents, almost too happy to contain himself. He was going to Hogwarts; he was going to see Tiffany again. He remembered the kiss Tiffany had given him, he touched the spot where she had kissed him, and he grimaced. His life had changed drastically in the last three days and now that his destiny was clear, he had a path to follow and a dream to pursue, to give Tiffany a real kiss… someday…


End file.
